Retro: Southwest Florida Sat, Feb 5, 1977

[Bluenoser]

by request, from Fort Myers News-Press

WPBT 2-PBS Miami
8:00 Sesame Street (x2)
10:00 Once Upon a Classic "David Copperfield" (pt 4)
10:30 Zoom
11:00 Ornamental Horticulture
noon Writing for a Reason
1:00 As Man Behaves
2:00 Lowell Thomas Remembers...1966
2:30 Book Beat
3:00 Lilias, Yoga & You
3:30 Woman "Women and Taxes"
4:00 Consultation
4:30 The Week Ends Here
5:00 Washington Week in Review
5:30 Wall Street Week
6:00 Great Movie Cowboys "Trigger, Jr."
6:55 Soapbox
7:00 British Soccer
8:00 David Susskind "The John F. Kennedy I Knew-Dave Powers"
10:00 Firing Line "The Latin Liturgy"
11:00 Movie Theatre "Storm Over Asia" (1928 Soviet film)

WEDU 3-PBS Tampa
8:00 Villa Alegre
8:30 Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
9:00 Sesame Street
10:00 Carrascolendas
10:30 Zoom
11:00 Once Upon a Classic "David Copperfield" (pt 4)
11:30 Man & Environment I
noon Dimensions in Culture
12:30 It's Everybody's Business
1:00 Man & Environment II
1:30 Nova "The Sunspot Mystery" (scientists claim that the sun is losing its spots, with the Earth's climate becoming colder as a result)
2:30 Consumer Survival Kit "Auto Repairanoia"
3:00 Book Beat
3:30 Anyone for Tennyson? "A Program of Satire"
4:00 Lilias, Yoga & You
4:30 Quick on the Draw
5:00 Nova (repeat from 1:30)
6:00 Insight
6:30 Lo Nuestro
7:00 Studio See
7:30 Once Upon a Classic "David Copperfield" (pt 5)
8:00 Meeting of Minds (Sir Thomas More, played by Bernard Behrens, and Queen Marie Antoinette, played by Steve Allen's wife Jayne Meadows)
9:00 Soundstage (guests Tom Waits and Mose Allison)
10:00 Movie Theater "Earth" (another Soviet import, this one from 1930)
11:00 Jeanne Wolf with...Norrman Lear

WTVJ 4-CBS Miami
6:30 Sunrise Semester
7:00 Big Blue Marble
7:30 Hot Fudge
8:00 Sylvester & Tweety
8:30 Clue Club
9:00 Bugs Bunny/Road Runner
10:00 Tarzan: Lord of the Jungle
10:30 Shazam!/Isis
11:30 Ark II
noon Fat Albert
12:30 Way Out Games
1:00 CBS Children's Film Festival
2:00 Tarzan
3:00 Batman
3:30 Space: 1999 "A Matter of Balance"
4:30 CBS Sports Spectacular (live coverage of Sugar Ray Leonard's bout with Luis Vega/LA Times Track Meet/Paul Newman's major world championship racing debut in the 24 Hours of Daytona race)
6:00 News
6:30 CBS Evening News
7:00 Montage
7:30 Price is Right
8:00 Mary Tyler Moore
8:30 Bob Newhart
9:00 All in the Family
9:30 Alice
10:00 Carol Burnett (guest Helen Reddy)
11:00 News
11:30 Saturday Late Show "Cleopatra"

WCIX 6-Ind Miami
7:30 Dusty's Treehouse
8:00 Fran Carlton Exercise Show
8:30 McHale's Navy
9:00 Beverly Hillbillies
9:30 Gomer Pyle, USMC
10:00 Andy Griffith
10:30 Creature Feature "Son of Kong"
noon Wrestling
1:00 Movie "Psychomania"
3:00 Movie "Wings of Fire"
5:00 Emergency One!
6:00 Saturday Movie "Underwater"
8:00 Saturday Showcase "The Curse of Frankenstein"
9:30 700 Club
11:00 Mission: Impossible
mid. Best of Steve Allen

WFLA 8-NBC Tampa
6:30 Muggsy
7:00 Batman Theater
8:00 Woody Woodpecker
8:30 Pink Panther
10:00 Speed Buggy
10:30 Monster Squad
11:00 Space Ghost/Frankenstein Jr.
11:30 Big John, Little John
noon Soyouwantobe
12:30 Information 8
1:30 Categorically Speaking
2:00 Saturday Afternoon Movie "But Not for Me"
4:00 College Basketball: Tennessee-Auburn
6:00 News
6:30 NBC Nightly News
7:00 News Conference
7:30 Here & There
8:00 Emergency! "Insanity Epidemic"
9:00 NBC Movie "Born Losers"
11:00 News
11:30 Weekend (visit to the Marine Military Academy/Sicilian women's hair used for wigs/the exorbitant cost of graduating a doc from the US Dept. of Defence Medical School/black Texas sheriff)
1:00 Don Kirshner's Rock Concert (guests Wild Cherry, Al Wilson, Ed Bluestone, and Muledeer)

WPLG 10-ABC Miami
6:00 Next Generation
6:30 At Home/Growing Things
7:00 Arthur & Company
8:00 Tom & Jerry/Mumbly
8:30 Jabberjaw
9:00 Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt
10:30 Krofft Supershow
11:30 Super Friends
noon News
12:30 Ara Parseghian's Sports
1:00 Saturday Matinee "Beat the Devil"
2:30 Let's Go to the Races
3:00 Call It Macaroni
3:30 Pro Bowlers Tour: Rolaids Open (from St. Louis)
5:00 Wide World of Sports (Men's World Cup Downhill Skiing Championships)
6:00 Hawaiian Open golf
7:00 News
7:30 Newsmakers
8:00 Happy Days Special (celebrating the show's 3rd anniversary)
8:30 Fish (premiere)
9:00 Starsky & Hutch "Survival"
10:00 Most Wanted "The Hit Man"
11:00 News
11:30 Peter Marshall
1:00 Cine del Sabado "Psyche '59"

WLCY 10-ABC Largo
6:20 Pastor's Study
6:30 World Today
7:00 Meet the Realtors
7:15 Social Security
7:30 Leroy Jenkins
8:00 Tom & Jerry/Mumbly
8:30 Jabberjaw
9:00 Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt
10:30 Krofft Supershow
11:30 Super Friends
noon Oddball Couple
12:30 American Bandstand (guests the Pointer Sisters and Stephen Bishop)
1:30 NCAA Basketball: Memphis State-Louisville
3:30 Pro Bowlers Tour: Rolaids Open
5:00 Wide World of Sports
6:00 Hawaiian Open golf
7:00 Lawrence Welk
8:00 Happy Days Special
8:30 Fish (premiere)
9:00 Starsky & Hutch "Survival"
10:00 Most Wanted "The Hit Man"
11:00 Saturday Night Movie "The McConnell Story"
1:00 ABC News
1:15 Involvement 10
1:45 Pastor's Study

WINK 11-CBS Fort Myers
7:00 Music & the Spoken Word
7:30 Fury
8:00 Sylvester & Tweety
8:30 Clue Club
9:00 Bugs Bunny/Road Runner
10:00 Tarzan: Lord of the Jungle
10:30 Shazam!/Isis
11:30 Ark II
noon Fat Albert
12:30 Way Out Games
1:00 CBS Children's Film Festival
2:00 Movie "Destination Tokyo"
4:30 CBS Sports Spectacular
6:00 News
6:30 30 Minutes
7:00 Lawrence Welk
8:00 Mary Tyler Moore
8:30 Bob Newhart
9:00 All in the Family
9:30 Alice
10:00 Carol Burnett
11:00 News
11:30 Movie Classics "The Life of Emile Zola"

WTVT 13-CBS Tampa
6:45 Pulse News
7:00 Tarzan Theatre "Tarzan's Greatest Adventure" (pt 1, with Gordon Scott donning the loincloth)
8:00 Sylvester & Tweety
8:30 Clue Club
9:00 Bugs Bunny/Road Runner
10:00 Tarzan: Lord of the Jungle
10:30 Shazam!/Isis
11:30 Ark II
noon Fat Albert
12:30 Way Out Games
1:00 CBS Children's Film Festival
2:00 Hot Dog
2:30 Ironside
3:30 Lange Cup
4:00 Film Feature: TBA
4:30 CBS Sports Spectacular
6:00 News
6:30 CBS Evening News
7:00 Candid Camera
7:30 Andy Williams (guest Nancy Ames)
8:00 Mary Tyler Moore
8:30 Bob Newhart
9:00 All in the Family
9:30 Alice
10:00 Carol Burnett
11:00 News
11:30 Best of Hollywood "Rosemary's Baby"

WBBH 20-NBC Fort Myers
7:00 Lucy Show
7:30 Little Rascals
8:00 Woody Woodpecker
8:30 Pink Panther
10:00 Speed Buggy
10:30 Monster Squad
11:00 Space Ghost/Frankenstein Jr.
11:30 Big John, Little John
noon Land of the Lost
12:30 Muggsy "The Big Break"
1:00 Wrestling
2:00 In Concert: Anne Murray
3:00 Music Hall America
4:00 College Basketball: Tennessee-Auburn
6:00 News
6:30 NBC Nightly News
7:00 Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau "Tragedy of the Red Salmon"
9:00 NBC Movie "Born Losers"
11:00 News
11:30 Weekend

WEVU 26-ABC Bonita Springs
7:00 Big Valley
8:00 Tom & Jerry/Mumbly
8:30 Jabberjaw
9:00 Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt
10:30 Krofft Supershow
11:30 Super Friends
noon Oddball Couple
12:30 American Bandstand
1:30 NCAA Basketball: Memphis State-Louisville
3:30 Pro Bowlers Tour: Rolaids Open
5:00 Wide World of Sports
6:00 Hawaiian Open golf
7:00 High Rollers
7:30 Love, American Style
8:00 Happy Days Special
8:30 Fish (premiere)
9:00 Starsky & Hutch "Survival"
10:00 Most Wanted "The Hit Man"
11:00 ABC News
11:15 American Theater "The Bridge on the River Kwai"/"RPM"/"Lion of Amalfi"/"The Haunted Strangler"/"Marine Battleground"

WXLT 40-ABC Sarasota
5:00 Movie "Beyond the Time Barrier"
6:30 A Better Way
7:00 Gilligan's Island
7:30 Animals, Animals, Animals
8:00 Tom & Jerry/Mumbly
8:30 Jabberjaw
9:00 Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt
10:30 Krofft Supershow
11:30 Super Friends
noon Oddball Couple
12:30 American Bandstand
1:30 Metro 7 Basketball
3:30 Pro Bowlers Tour: Rolaids Open
5:00 Wide World of Sports
6:00 Hawaiian Open golf
7:00 Lawrence Welk
8:00 Happy Days Special
8:30 Fish (premiere)
9:00 Starsky & Hutch "Survival"
10:00 Most Wanted "The Hit Man"
11:00 ABC News
11:15 News
11:30 World Championship Tennis
1:00 Don Kirshner's Rock Concert (listings don't indicate if this was the same one that aired in Tampa)
2:30 Movies: TBA

WTOG 44-Ind St. Petersburg
7:00 Popeye
7:30 Flintstones
8:00 Hour of Power
9:00 Gerald Derstine
9:30 God's News Behind the News
10:00 Ernest Angley Hour
11:00 Lone Ranger
11:30 Rifleman
noon Soul Train
1:00 Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
2:00 Creature Feature "The Raven"
3:30 Creature Feature "When Worlds Collide"
5:00 Kidsworld
5:30 Muppet Show (guest Phyllis Diller)
6:00 Space: 1999
7:00 Wrestling
8:00 Pop! Goes the Country
8:30 That Good Ole Nashville Music
9:00 Nashville on the Road
9:30 Porter Wagoner
10:00 Monty Python's Flying Circus (90 min)
11:30 Fright Theatre "Count Dracula"
1:00 All-Night Movies "Convicts Four"
2:50 All-Night Movies "Retreat from Kiska"
4:20 All-Night Movies "Thief of Baghdad"

WKID 51-Ind Fort Lauderdale
noon Dave Dennis Saturday Matinee: TBA
2:00 You & Your Money
3:00 Consumer Alert
3:30 Florida Wrestling
4:30 Bowling Talk
5:30 TBA
6:00 Miami All-Star Bowling
7:30 Let's See the Races
8:00 Rincon Criollo
8:30 TBA
9:30 Cristo en Su Hogar
10:00 PTL Club
mid. Sea Hunt
12:30 I Led Three Lives
1:00 Movie: TBA
3:00 Laurel & Hardy
3:30 Movie: TBA

 

[Bluenoser]

Here's a look at the cablecos covering the circulation area:

Gulf Coast Cablevision (carried 2-4-6-10M-11-20-26-51)
Naples
East Naples
Marco Island

South Florida Cable TV (carried 2-3-6-10M-11-20-26-40-44-51)
North Fort Myers
Fort Myers Beach
Bonita Springs
Naples Park
Vanderbilt Beach
Palm River Estates
Estero
San Carlos Park

Southern Cablevision (carried 3-8-10L-11-20-26-40-44)
Fort Myers
East Fort Myers
Fort Myers Shores
South Fort Myers to Gladiolus Dr
Fort Myers Villas
Iona

Gulf Communications
Cape Coral (carried 2-3-6-8-10M-11-13-20-26-40-44)
Golden Gate (2-6-10-11-20-26)

Cablevision of Sanibel (3-8-11-13-20-26-40-44)
Sanibel Island

Gulf Coast Television (3-8-11-13-20-26-40-44)
Pine Island
Mattacha

Community Television Cable
Lehigh Acres (2-4-6-10M-11-20-26-44-51)
Clewiston (4-6-11-20-44 plus other channels, either WPB or Orlando; Clewiston is between Fort Myers and WPB)

Storer Cable TV (3-8-11-13-20-26-40-44 in all areas, Englewood also picked up 10L)
Punta Gorda
Punta Gorda Isles
Charlotte Harbor
Port Charlotte
North Port
Warm Mineral Springs
Harbor Cove
Englewood

 

[bpatrick]

Interesting that all the ABC and CBS affiliates in Ft. Myers/Naples,
Miami, and Tampa/St. Petersburg were listed, but NBC in Miami was not. Why
didn't any cable system carry WSVN?

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

For quite a few years now, so many people even in urban areas receive TV via cable. That's even noted here with the various cable companies covering this section of Florida. As with some other areas, I've always wondered how TV DX'ing might have been in different parts of that state in years past given what I understand is the fairly flat terrain. Just thinking of a fairly good TV with a fringe (or deep-fringe) antenna and rotor. Just wondered if there might be anyone from years past who tried it there.

 

[bpatrick]

I lived in Tampa in the '70s and had absolutely no luck
picking up Orlando or Sarasota (or anything else outside
the Bay Area). OTOH, I've also lived in higher elevations
(Birmingham and Greenville, SC) and have had very good
luck bringing in out-of-market stations (in the mornings
in Greenville I could get WGTV Athens, GA; WSOC Charlotte;
WIS Columbia, SC; WXIA Atlanta; and WRDW Augusta, GA;
in Birmingham I could routinely get WXIA and--depending on
intangibles--either WRBL Columbus, GA or WEAR Pensacola, FL,
both of which are analog Ch. 3).

 

[azumanga]

I lived in Tampa in the '70s and had absolutely no luck
picking up Orlando or Sarasota (or anything else outside
the Bay Area).

Where Sarasota is concerned, channel 40 was always a regular tune-in in Pinellas County, at least in the Clearwater area -- wasn't as clear as a local, but as clear as the local UHF stations were. Don't know about the Fort Myers channels, as our antennas were always pointed towards Holiday (channel 10 and WCLF 22) or Riverview (everyone else), though they were a regular DX catch.

 

[anabate123]

Do you have listings from January 1995 - December 1999 for Southwest Florida?

 

[bpatrick]

I lived in Hillsborough County so I don't know if 40's
signal got that far; I never picked it up and
had enough trouble getting a viewable picture on 44.

Another area where I've lived that's reasonably flat
is Dallas/Fort Worth; specifically, I lived in Plano (Collin
County) but the only stations from outside the Metroplex
I could pick up were KXII/12 Ada/Ardmore, OK, and KSWO/7
Wichita Falls, TX/Lawton, OK.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

With regards to DX'ing in Florida, I have wondered about a location in the south-central part of the state (although that might wind up being in the Everglades). That would be a distance from Tampa and St. Petersburg as well as Miami and Fort Lauderdale. I thought you might also have a shot at a Cuban station or two.

 

[EJ204]

Eventually, the Fort Myers UHF stations started refering to themselves ONLY with their cable dial positions. WBBH 20 calls itself "NBC 4." Same for the Fort Myers-Naples ABC and Fox stations, although in 1977, the Fox station isn't even on the air yet.

I wonder how long it took for this practice to start, when cable penetration in SW Florida reached the point where it made more sense to use your cable position instead of your UHF channel. And did TV Guide and other TV listings pick this up, or did you have to wade through all the Tampa and Miami VHF station listings before you could figure out what your local NBC and ABC stations were doing?

Of course, WINK-TV, having the only VHF station, must have had a big lead originally, when UHF stations were much harder to pick up and many analog tuners required you to click 15 times to get from CBS shows on 11 to ABC shows on 26.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

It's interesting that WEDU-3 in Tampa Bay broadcast an episode of "Nova" on which the idea of the earth's climate getting colder because of a lack of sunspots was being discussed!

???

Of course, the Winter of 1976-77 was unusually cold in much of the United States. This episode of "Nova" may have been rushed into production because of the cold waves; it's my understanding that there were some frosts that Winter in southern Florida and even in parts of the Caribbean!

I also recall that perhaps a year later, the syndicated "In Seartch Of..." (narrated by Leonard Nimoy) did an episode about whether the earth was about to plunge into another ice age, and in fact, there was much talk then as to whether the earth's climate was indeed cooling.

 

[azumanga]

Eventually, the Fort Myers UHF stations started refering to themselves ONLY with their cable dial positions. WBBH 20 calls itself "NBC 4."

Actually, they're "NBC 2", as they are on Cable 2 on most systems. (WFTX is "Fox 4".)

Of course, WINK-TV, having the only VHF station, must have had a big lead originally, when UHF stations were much harder to pick up and many analog tuners required you to click 15 times to get from CBS shows on 11 to ABC shows on 26.

Not necessarily -- most sets had two separate dials, one for VHF and one for UHF. To tune in a UHF channel, you would turn the VHF dial to "U" or "UHF", then change the UHF dial. Most often, the switch from 11 to 26 would only be two clicks away (if you left the UHF on 26 from last time), or a total of eight clicks (11 to "U", then 20 to 26). If you live in Sarasota County and you watch 40 or 44, in addition to the Fort Myers channels, that's where you need to do alot of clicking.

 

[JayR]

Eventually, the Fort Myers UHF stations started refering to themselves ONLY with their cable dial positions. WBBH 20 calls itself "NBC 4." Same for the Fort Myers-Naples ABC and Fox stations, although in 1977, the Fox station isn't even on the air yet.

I wonder how long it took for this practice to start, when cable penetration in SW Florida reached the point where it made more sense to use your cable position instead of your UHF channel. And did TV Guide and other TV listings pick this up, or did you have to wade through all the Tampa and Miami VHF station listings before you could figure out what your local NBC and ABC stations were doing?

The practice of using cable placement channels started in the 90's.

As EJ204 stated, WBBH is on cable 2.

 

[newsmark]

I lived in Hillsborough County so I don't know if 40's
signal got that far; I never picked it up and
had enough trouble getting a viewable picture on 44.

Another area where I've lived that's reasonably flat
is Dallas/Fort Worth; specifically, I lived in Plano (Collin
County) but the only stations from outside the Metroplex
I could pick up were KXII/12 Ada/Ardmore, OK, and KSWO/7
Wichita Falls, TX/Lawton, OK.

Really? No KLTV/7 from Tyler? At one time they were semi-reliable in the metro if you had a good outdoor antenna. Maybe it was before they moved their tower from Tyler to Big Sandy.